Going Home
by The Hellsing Alchemist
Summary: Three years have passed since Hilda became the champion of Unova. Life with her family and friends was peaceful and yet she wonders about the end of Team Plasma and the memory of their leader. A unsual and desperate call for help may change everything once again.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello people, this will be a short little story about the ending of the first Black&White games and what could have happened to some characters after a few years. I hope you like it. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Game Freak**

**Prologue**

Three years have gone since Hilda challenged the Elite Four and became the Champion amidst a real turmoil of events involving Team Plasma and their so called king, N. Things were different now, N was gone pursuing his own truth, Team Plasma disbanded at last and she was no longer the Champion. Unova changed.

Still, one thing was still missing. The one responsible for turning all the gears and setting the players in motion disappeared as soon as his plans crumbled down. Ghetsis Harmonia, the real leader of team Plasma, the seventh sage was never seen again.

Hilda sometimes wondered what could have happened to the man. He could be a threat anywhere he may be hiding. Maybe he got tired of trying to conquer his place in the world, or simply started his life again.

"_No."_ She thought with herself, he was too determined to give up. Much like his son, Ghetsis was like a broken machine, bent on fulfilling its purpose even with its pieces falling apart, destroying itself in that desperate attempt and hurting everyone that dared to fix it. She couldn't explain why, but she felt it was a sad way to go. Maybe when all those things happened with the legendary dragons, if someone had enough courage to show Ghetsis a less… destructive way to live he could be a different man.

"Hilda dear, can you help me here for a moment?" her mother called, bringing her back to earth. She got up from the computer where she was reading the news of the day, one of them mentioned the possible sighting of N far over Kanto, which brought all those memories back.

"I'll be right there!" she answered while putting her shoes on. Her Samurott that was lying on her bed suddenly opened his sleepy eyes at the clumsy noise of his trainer's steps against the floor. "Oh, sorry to wake you up, Sammy." she caressed the pokemon's head playfully on her way down the corridor. He just let a pleased growl and went back to his nap.

When she reached the living room, almost rolling down the stairs in her hurry, she saw her two friends sitting on the couch. Cheren and Bianca stared at her with a funny look, or at least Bianca did, Cheren looked somewhat amused.

"That was quite an entrance Hilda, care to do it again?" Cheren observed while pushing his glasses over his nose.

"Oh my, watch out Hilda, you will get hurt running like that!" Bianca said while approaching her. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine guys. It's that stupid mismatched step, I miss it every time!" she shot an angry glance at the offending step. "What are you two doing here anyways?"

"Cheren, I think she forgot." Bianca laughed.

"It seems like it." he smiled too.

"Wait, I forgot what?" Hilda tried to think anything important that she could have missed, but her mind was simply empty.

"Hilda, did you forget your own birthday?" her mother entered the room carrying a tray. It held a decorated cake that looked like a pokeball.

"Ok, shame to the max now." Hilda exclaimed hiding her burning face in both her hands. "I'm such a loser, can't even keep track of my own birthday. That must be a new national record.

"Don't worry Hilda, you're not a loser, you have been just a bit air headed these days." said Bianca hugging her friend.

"Looks who's saying that."Cheren added with a disapproving look. "The one who left home wearing two different shoes. And they weren't even the same color!"

They all laughed.

That morning Hilda completed 22 years, she was still a trainer but since she became the champion, she started to help the others gym leaders, they even invited her to be on the elite four but she refused. Being part of the elite meant she would have to be away from her family and friends for almost the whole year, and after all she went through she felt it was time to live her life a bit more quietly, at least for a while.

"So, what are you going to ask this time?" said Cheren looking at her, his serious attitude was now much friendlier.

"Don't be so curious, Cheren. If she tells you what it is it won't come true, everyone knows that!" Bianca poked his ribs. They soon started the usual never-ending quarrel that was almost their trademark. Hilda sighed as she dragged them both to the chairs at the table.

"Calm down you two." said Hilda to both of them. "Let's not start a fight so early in the morning, shall we?"

After all this time, it was just recently that Cheren reunited his courage to ask Bianca to be his girlfriend, which the girl accepted right away. Since then, Hilda had a new way to taunt her already short tempered friend.

"_Well… what can I ask…"_ she thought as the flames from the candles swayed silently to a small current of air. It was both a hard and silly decision, she couldn't think on something right away. " Maybe I can…" she trailed of, speaking out loud.

Finally she blew the candles in just one go at the sound of the clapping hands. Her Samurott gave a mighty howl, cheering in his own way.

"So, it was a good one this time?" Bianca whispered in her ear, as Cheren was busy with his slice of cake.

"I guess." Hilda replied a bit embarrassed.

"Professor Juniper said you should ask for a boyfriend." the girl giggled as Hilda turned a bright shade of red.

"Great, even her is fond of pointing that out now." Hilda laughed. "That woman is getting impossible now that the new guy at the lab asked her out.

"I know, I work with her everyday." Bianca winked at her. "At least Adam's really nice."

"Yeah. Maybe I should call one of the Subway bosses one of these days to visit us, remember them?"

"Mr. Ingo and Mr. Emmet, of course I remember them. Mr Emmet is always so kind and funny. His brother seemed so different, a bit too serious and he rarely smiles.

"Nah, Ingo is just like that. Once he gets used to you he will show his gentle side."

Hilda kinda missed the twins, she spent months battling at the Battle Subway last year. She wondered about visiting them at Nimbasa later. Emmet would cry tears of joy at her sight, since she was his partner in most of his pranks on his brother.

The small party was interrupted by the sound of the ring at the front door.

"I wonder who could be now." said her mother looking really surprised as she got up from her seat at the table.

It was not long when two more people joined the party. Hilda barely had time to see who they were as something tackled her to the ground as soon as the door opened.

"Happy Birhtday!" exclaimed the cheerful voice of Iris, who attached herself to Hilda in a spine breaking hug.

"Thanks Iris." Hilda tried to breath when the girl released her. "Keep going like that and you will be stronger than Drayden!"

"Did you hear that, grandpa?" Iris asked looking up to someone behind Hilda. "I'm getting stronger too!"

A pair of gloved hands seized Hilda from her spot on the ground and lifted her effortlessly.

"I know that." she heard Drayden's voice as he set her back on her feet. "Just don't split our friend in two on her birthday, my little dragon." he laughed.

"Hi Drayden!" Hilda greeted the dragon master and gave him a hug. Luckily, Drayden knew how to control his strength, the man trained battling dragon pokemon with his bare hands, his hugs were lethal weapons.

"Hilda, we brought this especially for you." Iris handed her a light blue flute. It was made of wood and looked handmade.

"Wow, thank you very much!" she held the instrument with care.

"Drayden carved it and I decorated it!" Iris pointed to the small figures along the flute.

"It is a typical flute from Opelucid, it is said to bring peace to those who hear it." she heard Drayden explaining while Iris was already halfway on tips on how to play it.

Hilda remembered once after she defeated Iris at the Opelucid gym, she saw Drayden training with his pokemon at their house. When the training session was over, Iris and her joined to listen him play a similar flute. It really had a beautiful and soothing sound.

Iris spent most of her time playing with Samurott. Cheren and Drayden were absorbed on the latest challengers of their gyms. While Bianca, Hilda and her mother tried to learn how to play the new flute, which rendered the most out of harmony symphony one could ever see.

Then, after some time passed, Hilda felt someone tugging at her arm. It was Iris.

"Can I ask you something, Hilda?" she asked looking a bit ashamed.

"Of course you can, Iris!" somehow, Hilda knew what the girl was going to ask her.

Hearing that, Iris opened an ear to ear grin.

"Can I see your Zekrom, pretty please?"

"Sure, but we will have to do this outside. You know, he is a big guy with a soft heart, he would feel really bad for tearing our house to shreds."

The legendary pokemon was just like the ancient story described him, a huge, intimidating red eyed black dragon at first sight, but Hilda could say it actually was one of the gentlest beings she knew.

Everyone gathered outside, Nuvema was a small town that consisted of just four buildings, it was the perfect place to let her pokemon enjoy the nature without half the country staring at him.

"Ok." she held her pokeball from her belt. "Time to join the family Zekrom."

For a moment, everybody looked thrilled at the sight of the legendary dragon. Zekrom spread his set of dark wings with a roar. He was as tall as their house.

"It's good to see you too." Hilda patted his face when he caught her in one of his massive claws. The dragon gently touched her forehead in what looked like his way to greet her. "We have some friends here that will love to meet you." she told him, he promptly answered with a deep growl.

"Wow, he's beautiful!" Iris exclaimed with her mouth wide open.

Needless to say that in a few moments later you could see what it looked like an amused dragon with a girl perched on its shoulders while a very worried Drayden watched over them.

"I think he's happy with his new fans." said Cheren to her as he leaned besides Hilda on the wall. "You can see that even Drayden is enjoying that as much as Iris."

"I told you that Zekrom is a pile of muscles and electricity with a big pink heart inside." Hilda never saw him enraged, only when she was forced to fight N and his Reshiram that she noticed a hint of sadness and anger emanating from the pokemon. The two dragons once were one pokemon long ago, so it must have been hard to fight and hurt your own half.

"We never heard anything about that guy again." Cheren muttered looking at the sky.

"Yeah, but maybe that's a good thing." she added after a while. "Reshiram will take good care of him."

"I wonder…" the boy crossed his arms over his chest. "His "father" or whatever he was is still out there. One day he might come back and start all over again." he said in a worried tone. Cheren still dreaded the moment when the seventh sage escaped just before his eyes when the Shadow Triad came to his aid.

"Ghetsis won't harm anyone now." she stated. Cheren looked at her like she had grown out a second head like a Zweilous.

"I don't see how you can say that. The man is crazy! You saw what he did and what he was going to do if he had the chance."Cheren exclaimed a bit loudly, everybody looked at his sudden outburst. "Sorry, I got a bit carried away." he said before resuming their conversation.

"I see your point Cheren. But he's alone now." Hilda explained as she sat down. "He lost his pokemon and his pride. The people who supported him left and so did his family, as far as we know he has no one now. I don't know if I could go through all that." Again, it made her a little sad that there was nothing she could do to help, if N had a chance to change his point of view why they had to simply lock Ghetsis away and pretend that all those things never happened?

"If you say so." He sighed and then proceeded to join Bianca, who was now trying to offer a slice of cake to Zekrom.

"What am I doing, defending the bad guy now?!" she said to herself, closing her eyes. Sometimes Hilda wondered why she still believed that if someone could at least try, things could change, even when everything is against it.

"Zekrom accepted you as his master, it's not a surprise that you hold onto your ideals that he represents." Drayden's voice and his golden eyes staring at her startled the girl inner turmoil.

"Don't worry I was mumbling some thoughts." she excused herself. "Really crazy and deranged ones."

Without saying a word, Drayden ruffled her hair and offered his hand. Hilda smiled, taking his hand to get up. Even without saying it out loud, she knew what he meant. For now, she was not going to worry about that.

"Now look at that, if isn't the most spoiled dragon we ever saw." Said the girl to the man beside her, who nodded with a soft expression.

In an attempt to lessen the height difference between them, Zekrom now was sprawled on his back with her mother, Bianca and Iris caressing his belly as if he were a giant scaly cat.

**A/N: So, this is the beginning, two more chapters to go. **

**Thanks for reading it. ^^**

**Next chapter, Ghetsis returns. :3**


	2. Rescue

**A/N: Hi! **

**So, the story finally begins. I hope you like this chapter. **

**And thanks for that kind review. ;)**

******Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Game Freak**

**Chapter 1 – Rescue**

_It was cold, freezing cold. And dark._

_Something was not right; she felt so much anger that it scared her. _

_It was painful, she felt hurt and there was no one there to help. No one to hear._

_She was alone._

_Yet, the faint memory of haunting and merciless yellowy eyes seemed to glow in her mind._

_The silence was almost unbearable as the only sound was the wild beating of her heart._

_It beat painfully against her chest._

_She wanted to run, but her body didn't move. Not anymore._

_A shiver run through her skin._

_The icy cold clutches of fear._

That morning Hilda woke up feeling dizzy and sick. Two days had passed since her birthday and everything was fine until she had that horrible nightmare. Her Samurott watched his trainer with a worried expression as she almost jumped out of her bed in a blind panic.

She tried to wipe the cold sweat from her face with the back of her hand.

"What kind dream was that?!" she asked out aloud. Her pokemon nudged her gently with his head. "I'm fine Sammy, don't worry." she hugged him to assure her statement.

Still, Hilda was feeling strange and uneasy, as if something watched her in the dark. It was a too vivid nightmare. She looked at the clock over her desk, it was 01:00 AM. Closing her eyes for a moment, she almost saw those strange glowing empty eyes again.

With trembling steps Hilda made her way to the bathroom, hoping that washing her face would be enough to make those uneasy feelings go away.

* * *

"What happened to you, Hilda? Are you not feeling well?" Helena asked as she saw her daughter dragging herself into the kitchen. The girl was as pale as a blanket.

"Bad dreams I think." she said pulling over a chair and resting her head directly on the cold surface of the table.

"Are you sure?" the girl felt her mother's hand over her forehead. "It's not a fever yet but you should stay here today." Hilda mumbled something in protest.

"Give me a warm cup of tea and I will be as good as new..." She said fighting to keep her eyes open but failing miserably. Drayden invited her to be a guest at the Opelucid gym that day, it was a bit late to cancel it now.

"I will call Drayden and explain you're not feeling well today. And don't give me that look Hilda, you know he will understand." said the woman as the girl tried to say something in her defense.

"Ok, I give up."Hilda closed her eyes again, her head felt as heavy as a solid rock. Maybe she caught a cold, she wondered. She spent the last days exposed to the icy winds of the winter. "Can I just hibernate until it is spring again?" she asked as Helena put a cup of tea in front of her face.

"Just take care of yourself and you will be better soon." her mother told her with a gentle smile. "A good breakfast and off to bed with you. By the size of those black circles under your eyes you didn't sleep either. You are looking exactly like your Lucario, my dear."

* * *

It was already 2:00 PM when Hilda managed to drag herself up from her bed. Her mind was fuzzy because of that strange feeling, like some kind of unseen pressure. She glanced over the window with squinted eyes. It was snowing now. She blinked several times, for a moment she thought some shadows moved not very far from the house.

Confused, she opened up the window and glanced again at the same spot. The cold wind felt somewhat refreshing against her feverish face. And then she definitely saw the silhouette of a person moving among the trees.

"What the…" she mumbled, holding her sore head. She wasn't seeing things, that's for sure. Her Samurott who was watching over his trainer the whole day also held up his head, as if sensing something in the air. He looked at her with concern in his eyes. "Sammy, there's someone out there and is watching us. I better go take a look, I can't just stand here agonizing the whole day."

The pokemon nodded with a small roar.

And so both of them silently made their way outside. Hilda shivered and swayed at the wind, holding her coat closer as she walked. There was no one around. Just the solid wall of trees that surrounded the town.

"Is anybody there?" she felt silly asking the empty scenery but she couldn't shake off that feeling that something was following them in the dark.

As she got no answer, Samurott glanced around seeming nervous with something. He growled suddenly, looking straight at the trees before them.

"Sammy, what's wrong?" Hilda asked, kneeling down beside her pokemon. She could feel him shivering and it was not because of the weather.

"You are a keen girl." A cold emotionless voice cut the air. It sounded familiar to Hilda. Her Samurott quickly stepped up, protecting her from the shadow that landed before them.

"I know you, you are one of the shadow triad." She exclaimed at one of the former guardians of Team Plasma. As critical as the situation was, she was not in condition to fight him properly or even run. At the same time the young guardian revealed himself, her headache got even worse.

"No need to get alarmed, our mission here is not to fight you." he said sharply, holding his hands up and eyeing the growling pokemon before him, his bluish fur was ruffled. "We followed you for some time, to assure you were indeed worthy of our trust. We came to ask for help."

"Help?" Hilda repeated but her mind tried to process the whole statement. "Wait a minute… have you anything to do with this dreadful headache?"

"Our presence here must have affected your perceptions, it was not our intention to do so and we are sorry for that." He then bowed shortly.

"You guys are emanating bad vibes all around then. I feel like my head is about to split in two." She added a bit relieved for discovering the source of that pain. However it worried her that only one of the guardians was standing there, the other two were nowhere to be seen.

"As you may remember, we swore to serve Ghetsis even when he ordered us to not look for his hiding place. And so we did." He paused. " Yet… we found him."

Hilda's heart skipped a beat. So Ghetsis was still around Unova. That couldn't be a good thing. However, she feared the worst as the guardian spoke again.

"It shames me to admit that we clearly disobeyed an order, but we fear our master will not last any longer on his own. We can't bear it anymore!" He closed his fist in frustration and hit the closest tree. "He won't listen to us." Those words were full of sadness and she could see the despair in the young man eyes as he addressed her again.

"I… I get what you're trying to say but there's a problem." She had to lean on her Samurott as her legs started to protest. "Ghetsis, he _hates_ me." She stressed the word.

"You may be right, but if someone is responsible for his destiny it's bound to be the one who took everything from him." Hilda felt a sting of guilt. Indeed, she battled him and at the end Ghetsis lost much more than just a fight. It was an extreme situation, if no one stopped him at that moment things would get far out of control, she had to do it.

"Look, your leader was trying to control us all by force, I couldn't just let him do that!" She explained, it sounded like a good reason.

The girl still remembered the incident, the way that the sage screamed at N, angry words that must have really hurt him. At first she thought it was the right thing to do, to stop Team Plasma and all that nonsense. Now she wasn't so sure, no matter how she looked back at that day, it didn't felt like a victory at all.

"You know, maybe… if Ghetsis really needs help like you said I… I can try." It was her final decision. "I just hope he won't try to bite my head off like he did before." She added a few seconds later, which made the guardian chuckle slightly.

"It will be no easy task, Ghetsis is a determined man and even in his weakened condition he will not be easily persuaded." That bit wasn't even necessary; the few moments she spent around the man were enough to assure that he was hardheaded enough to make an Gigalith bow down in shame.

"And where's he? I don't know how far I can go feeling like this." For a moment she hoped that as soon as the shadow triad was gone she would feel better.

"The giant chasm. One of us saw him retreat into a cave months ago and there he remained. The reason is unknown to us. However, as far as we could see, his health slowly gave in to illness and we fear that it may take him down soon." Then the guardian kneeled down on one of his knees and his voice slightly faltered as he spoke again. "We ask you to be quick, time is running out." And with that he left as suddenly as he appeared.

Somehow, that weird pressure over her seemed to lessen with their presence gone, but the urgency of the situation was her new source of worry. Hilda made her way back, she tried to explain to her mother in few words that she needed to go for a while. At first, Helena didn't like the idea but the hurry in her daughter eyes made her change her mind.

She tossed in her backpack some first aid itens, reunited her pokemon and with a quick glance at herself, she was ready to go.

"I don't know how long it will take, but I will call as soon as I can. Wish me luck!" she hugged her mother in a last goodbye.

"Take care of yourself. I will be waiting." She said as Hilda ran outside, summoning her Zekrom.

The dragon roared loudly as he extended his wings. Hilda held him tightly as he left the ground in one swift movement. It wouldn't take too long to reach her destination with Zekrom around, and she hoped that it would be enough.

* * *

The air now was so cold it was almost painful to breath, there was snow all around on the ground. Hilda wondered why Ghetsis would choose such a hostile place to hide. He surely was not on his better days or state of mind for that matter. She was feeling much better now, though her head was a bit sore, the icy wind wasn't helping either.

She entered the cave, lighting up a flashlight as the place was pitch black. It was a large cave but it consisted of a long tunnel. As she walked deeper, the place started to get covered in ice crystals.

"Where are you, you stubborn man?!" Hilda muttered, with the air forming dense clouds before her eyes. She asked herself how far he could possibly go being sick and all. Deep down, she hoped that all the legends about the so called monster that attacked the inhabitants of Lacunosa long ago were just stories, as the cave really looked like some horror story scenery.

She started to get nervous as she reached what looked a dead end and yet no signs of Ghetsis. However, the ground had strange marks, scratches made by huge claws. There even was some sort of trail, like something heavy was dragged around the ice.

A sting of fear and dread hit her as she followed the path it formed with her eyes until it reached a dark corner of the wall. Then, something moved.

Looking at her right she saw the form of a body slumped against the ice covered walls of the cave. Hilda gasped as she illuminated the trail of blood that covered the wall as if someone were slammed against it and slid to the floor. She waited for the worse when she entered that place but she didn't expect to find something like that.

It was indeed Ghetsis. With his back against the wall, he looked barely conscious; his breath was short and ragged. He still wore what looked a long, dark and torn gown with the emblem of team plasma on his chest, it was stained with blood. What caught her attention was the way he was holding his right arm, which was so deeply marked with cuts and scars, even its skin looked bit darker in the pale light.

"For heaven's sake, what have you done to yourself!" she said in horror, almost letting go of her flashlight.

One lonely crimson red eye struggled to focus on the source of the voice. Ghetsis moved a bit, his left hand closed in a spasm.

"You…" his voice was a low sharp whisper. "Don't you dare…" he snarled with a dangerous glint in his visible eye.

"I don't have time for that." Hilda cut him, taking one step closer. "You're dying here!" she had to muster her courage to approach the man, as he moved in an attempt to prevent her from getting any closer.

"Didn't ask for your help." Ghetsis almost spat in a menancing tone, looking more like he used to be.

"And I don't care, I'm not leaving without you!" Now she could see a faint trail of blood that dripped from his chin. "Do you really want to sit here, freezing and bleeding until the very end?" she asked, hoping it would make him realize how serious she was.

For a moment, Ghetsis looked away from her. His breathing got even noisier as he forced the air into his lungs. His eye blinked a few times, as if he tried to clear his vision.

"Why?" Was all that he managed to say, still refusing to look at her. The effort to talk was quickly draining what lasted from his energy.

"When we get out of here maybe I will tell you why, now please, stop being so stubborn and let me help you." She didn't want to mention the shadow triad, it would just inflame the man.

When she tried to reach him, Ghetsis snatched her arm with a strong grip. The girl gasped in pain, but didn't hit him back. It took her a few seconds to realize that he aimed for her neck instead of her arm.

"Don't…" he said staring back at her with menace dripping in his voice.

"Ghetsis, let go of my arm." Hilda warned him with an unnatural calm despite the situation. "You don't scare me anymore. And don't make me use my pokemon against you again."

Her fingers started to feel numb as he refused to loose his grip on her. That certainly was going to leave a mark. When she almost reached for her pokeball, the exhaustion of his last stunt made the man cough violently and he let go of her arm.

When Ghetsis moved his hand away from his face, it was drenched in blood. He looked at it with a strangely unfocused gaze. A twisted smile graced his bloody lips.

"Just… be quick then…" He sighed, closing his eye looking exhausted. Hilda hesitated a bit and then touched his exposed shoulder where the fabric was torn. He didn't react. Judging by the way his head leaned over his chest, Ghetsis finally gave up his last bit of strength.

"Ok, I just need a moment to think." She stomped around trying not to panic. In her hurry she didn't exactly think how she was going to carry him back. The man was much taller than her and his solid build rendered him a respectable weight to carry alone. If she managed at least to take him out of the cave, her Zekrom would take care of the rest.

Making up her mind Hilda picked one of her pokeballs and brought her recently caught Boufallant. She gave him the name of Frenzy, he was a good hearted pokemon but also terribly, terribly clumsy.

And Frenzy didn't like the idea of carrying someone heavy on his back in such a slippery floor, but he did his best while his trainer walked beside him, steadying his steps as his hooves slipped every now and then. Truth be told, even the girl slipped at least twice as they made their way.

And on the other side, the way back seemed to take forever. When they finally reached the exit the sky was even darker and the temperature went down some degrees.

"Now, where to go…" the girl thought in a hurry after returning a relieved Frenzy to his pokeball, Ghetsis needed some intensive care and she couldn't drop him anywhere without causing a national uproar.

She looked to her Zekrom, who despite his size held the unconscious man quite gently in his claws. He remembered who Ghetsis was, and those were not pleasant memories either, but he trusted her and didn't protest to help him.

"I hope this is the right decision." She said as she climbed on the dragon's back. "Can you take us to Opelucid, Zekrom?" as soon as Hilda finished her question, Zekrom opened his powerful dark wings and left the ground, throwing snow everywhere.

**A/N: Two chapters down, one to go. ^^**

**So, we meet Ghetsis again. Next chapter, trouble arrives in Opelucid city. (poor Drayden. XD)**

**Once again, thanks for reading. =)**


	3. Clash

**A/N: Hey people, hello again! :3**

**It took a bit longer to finish this one, but the last chapter is finally here. I would also like to thank Sailor Taichichi Vegeta for the reviews; they made me feel really happy and inspired to keep writing.**

**So, let's dance. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Game Freak**

**Chapter 2 – Clash**

The room was eerily quiet. It was early in the morning but there were already three people gathered in a wide room, they all had worried expressions, but for different reasons.

Sitting on the large marble colored couch, Drayden gazed occasionally at one of the doors. His worried amber eyes now were fixed on the young trainer on the chair opposed to him. Hilda had her face buried in her hands, in some kind of silent prayer. Iris was at his side, in a most unusual silence. She was also clearly worried with her friend but struggled with words to cheer her up.

Last night events were quite a change to the usually silent and peaceful town of Opelucid, especially at the Mayor's house.

Since the first time that the young trainer arrived in Opelucid to battle for the Legend Badge, years ago, she soon became good friends with Iris. And it did surprise him to know that the girl also seemed fond of dragon pokemon, as Iris happily told him later that day about the battle. Hilda's team at the time already had a fully evolved Hydreigon and a Haxorus, though her main pokemon consisted of an outrageously strong Samurott.

After that day, the girl always visited them; sometimes she would help with the challengers at the gym or simply join them on their training sessions. When time permitted, she spent whole days just listening to his stories and playing with Iris and the pokemon. In the end, Hilda became part of their little family.

These memories came back to him that night, when Hilda arrived right in front of the house on her legendary dragon, clothes stained with blood and barely able to lift the unconscious body of the former leader of Team Plasma that the dragon set on the ground. All kinds of questions flooded his mind at the time however there was a more urgent matter at hand and that could wait.

The dragon master tried to absorb the scene as he looked at what was left of Ghetsis, the man was paler than a ghost and every exposed part of his flesh looked injured. It took some time to convince Hilda that he was going to be fine and even more effort to unlatch the girl from him, as she clutched his limp hand in her own with such strength that it even looked painful. Iris soon joined them and for a moment she just stood there beside him, shocked. Her state of confusion didn't last for too long as he quickly ordered her to call and old friend of his that was also a medic of the town.

A few hours later, after they moved the unconscious man inside with a fever that refused to react to any medication, Ghetsis awoke and caused quite a commotion as he yelled and trashed the spare room where they put him. Things got up to a point that the dragon master had to immobilize the furious man himself.

With all the noise and chaos, Hilda finally got a chance to enter the room, she saw both Drayden and Ghetsis on the ground, the older one held the other's neck with his arm in a fierce stranglehold to keep him from hurting someone and himself. For someone in such a weakened state, Ghetsis proved to be as strong as the gym leader. Luckily, his outbursts were short lived and soon enough he passed out which made Drayden release the hold on him. The only one that didn't see this little episode was Iris, she stayed behind when Hilda sneaked in there.

After that incident, the doctor somehow shooed everybody out of the room. Hilda spent the next thirty minutes trying to explain to Drayden how on earth she stumbled on the former leader of Team Plasma and how sorry she was for dragging them into that madness.

He tried to calm her down, what she did wasn't exactly a bad thing, a little impulsive maybe, but helping someone was far from being something to be ashamed. Though it was hard to forget how much he despised the sage's past doings and his first impulse would be to drag that sorry man to the closest cage and keep him there for being so damn careless about the feelings of people and pokemon.

Deep down, Drayden knew that the girl did that for a good reason. And she trusted him and Iris enough to ask for help, he couldn't simply betray her trust. Even if the Shadow Triad didn't ask for her aid, she would still rescue Ghetsis. It was her nature, for months she looked for the boy chosen by the other legendary dragon, in hopes to mend that unique friendship they seemed to develop along past events.

The girl appeared a bit more relieved after that talk. Then, while Iris tended his left eyebrow, where Ghetsis landed a well-aimed punch in his blind rage, he saw her sending a message probably to her mother on her Xtransceiver. Soon the exhaustion caught up with the trainer and she fell asleep on the couch, the dragon master later covered the girl with a heavy blanket to counter the cold night.

And so they waited patiently until now.

The creaking sound of the door cut through the tension, making the three jump on their feet.

A tall old man wearing thick round glasses looked at them with a tired expression, but he opened up a kind smile after closing the door behind his back.

"That one was quite the troublemaker, you know, bit and snarled more than a rabid Herdier but he is fine for now." He explained as Hilda was the first one to ask what they all wanted to know. "However, it will take time to recover. And I'm afraid some things are simply beyond my reach."

"What do you mean, Kaji?" Drayden asked the old medic, who knew him since he was a young boy. Both girls also looked surprised with his last statement.

"It is amazing how this lad had the strength to stay alive. I don't know exactly what he went through but I can assure you that he was not going to make it if took a few more hours with that fever. Looked like someone run over him with a truck, a huge fanged truck I might add too." He then slowly proceeded to sit on the now empty couch, sighing heavily with exhaustion. "He was dehydrated and his lungs have seen better days, it will get better though. There were those deep gashes on his back and other small wounds; I counted at least three broken ribs. Luckily enough it's all patched up, if he doesn't bust the stitches first." He cleaned the lenses, adjusting his glasses once more. "Unfortunately, that arm… I guess it was already an old injury judging by how badly scarred it is but now it's completely numb.

"Numb?" Iris asked, furrowing her eyebrows. The girl was not fond of the former Team Plasma leader, but her kind heart wasn't made to hold grudges for so long.

"You see, while your grandfather tried to hold him, he twisted his elbow at the point of breaking and the man didn't even flinch. Judging by what I have seen, he isn't moving that arm nor reacting at any kind of pain. You can stab it with a knife and the lad won't move an inch." he continued as they all listened to the extent of those injuries. "I can't say for sure that it will get better one day, but there's still hope. He looks like a determined fellow."

Hilda fell back into her chair as the medic went on with his prognostic, that news made her feel strangely sad. Something in her mind told her that the man ended like that by his own misguided doings, and maybe it was beyond her to change that. Yet the least she could do for him now was put back the pieces, literally. Now she really felt that it was an opportunity to do something right. Her only fear was to lack the courage to stand for that goal.

Iris ran to her side, holding one of her hands.

"Don't look so down, Hilda. You did your best and he's ok now." Said the girl with an assuring smile. "Besides, grandpa and I are here to help you. We are strong. " she concluded with a playful wink.

"Thanks Iris. I'm glad you two don't think I'm crazy for rescuing him." Hilda gave her a shy smile and hugged the girl. Drayden who was watching them felt a bit relieved, still, it was far from over.

"Can we go see him?" Hilda asked after the medic made an extensive list of all the medicine and other things they would need to keep him there as they couldn't just take the man to a hospital without making a scene. Thankfully, the old doctor was willing to help to take care of Ghetsis.

"My suggestion is that someone should stay with him, preferably someone he knows to prevent another… episode like that." he motioned to Drayden's injured eyebrow, poorly mended with colorful band aids. "You will see he's not fully conscious, due to the strong medication, he will move occasionally and even say a few stray words, though I say it's safe enough to go in now."

Hilda thanked the old medic effusively before rushing in, with Iris right behind her.

"You got some really brave kids running wild around here, my boy!" Kaji said after a while.

"I know. Can't say I don't enjoy a challenge every now and then." Drayden laughed a bit at his old friend's remark and perplexed face.

"I don't know what happened to that lad, Drayden but he will give you more than a challenge." His tone was serious, his sight might be going with the age but he could see certain things better than any of them.

"I'm aware of that." Drayden crossed his arms. "But now we have someone here that may teach him a thing or two with twice the effort. That one is prepared to slay a dragon if needed."

"Well, let's give them some time to tame the dragon instead. Now, if you don't mind… let me take a look at that." The old man pulled the improvised bandage that Iris managed to stick on him rather roughly. The action almost took half his eyebrow with it, as the mayor noticed later when he inspected the damage in a mirror. "Hum… there's a huge creepy smile on your forehead looking right back at me, my boy." The old man laughed, as the cut on Drayden's injured face did have a strange resemblance to a wonky bright red grin.

* * *

Later that day

"He's so pale." Iris stated as she sat on one of the chairs beside the bed, Hilda was standing on the other side adjusting the blankets. "Even paler than I remember."

"I guess he spent quite some time away from the sun…" she muttered, eyeing the sleeping man. Ghetsis looked more peaceful now as he breathed slowly. "_Maybe he never had time to rest properly before."_

"I never got the chance to see him up close that time. Funny how he looks a bit like that boy Reshiram chose." the young girl rested her chin on her hands as she took a closer look. "You know, he's not as bad looking as I thought he was." She concluded after a while, tilting her head sideways as if to get a better angle.

Indeed Ghetsis was not ugly, actually very far from that. His already imposing figure mixed with all that rage gave him a menacing appearance to those who saw him three years ago, still Hilda had to admit, he did have a rather handsome face. Though now his already long hair had grow unruly far down his back, bandages covered almost every part of his body and bruises covered the few patches of exposed skin. He looked more like a shadow of that man she met 3 years ago.

"I think N is his son, that's what I gathered from all that mess. I can't be sure though." They never said it officially, but the resemblance was uncanny. Except the eyes, N had those light blue eyes; they reinforced his kind nature, while Ghetsis had crimson colored ones, or so she thought. His right one was always hidden, covered with some kind of metal eye patch. "Should we take that off?" she asked Iris, pointing at the said piece. "It looks uncomfortable." her sudden curiosity also helped. She noticed that Iris was staring at it for a while too.

"I think we can do that. It won't hurt I guess."

Both girls slowly approached the sleeping figure. They silently argued who would remove the eye patch, Hilda ended up with task as she was the first one to suggest it.

As gently as she could the girl twisted and pulled the metal piece from the man's face, she hoped it wouldn't wake him up, her bruised arm and Drayden's face served as a reminder to always be careful around him.

Luckily, it detached quite easily from its owner. They were able to see his whole face now. It became very clear why Ghetsis used that.

A massive scar covered the skin around his right eye, it had a dark and distorted shape that reminded a star, like it was caused by either a claw or a bite mark that ripped his skin apart.

"Wow, that must have hurt a lot!" exclaimed the younger girl, getting closer. "It's an old scar. Grandpa got one just like that when he trained his first Axew." She explained while motioning at her own shoulder. "You can still see it on his left shoulder where he was bitten." As much as Hilda and Drayden were friends, she didn't felt too inclined to ask the man to show his scars, but she kinda got a glimpse of that one when she saw him training with his pokemon once. Actually, the dragon master had at least a dozen scars so it was more of a guess.

After the initial shock, Hilda noticed that Ghetsis right eye wasn't completely closed like the other one. As much as she could see, a dull red colored eye stared blankly through his heavy eyelashes; its pupil was dilated and didn't seem to react to the light.

"I think… he's blind." Hilda said as she moved a few strands of hair out of his face. "Well, partially blind I guess." She corrected herself, wondering what could've happened to him to leave such a wound.

Then, Iris jumped suddenly. Hilda was startled by her action but didn't have enough time to actually see what scared the girl to such an extent; it came to her a bit too late though. She felt a warm hand closing over her own. Looking down, her heart did a triple jump in her chest. The man was awake.

"…Anthea?" his voice sounded coarse and raspy, he blinked a few times. When he breathed, a low wheezing sound accompanied the motion. ".…Itchy…" he mumbled trying hard to focus his vision on her. He probably referred to the moment she moved his hair aside.

"Uh…h-hi Ghetsis." Hilda stuttered a bit when he didn't release her hand. The man blinked one more time; she almost could see his thoughts slowly working. A glimpse of anger flashed in his mismatched eyes. Hilda felt his hand slightly increase its grip for half a second. "Are you feeling better?"

"Warm." was the answer as he closed his eyes again. Clearly his thoughts were a bit confused and blurry, considering everything they injected him. And he seemed to thinks she was someone else, probably one of the girls that lived in the castle with N. As Iris recovered from the surprise, she walked closer to Ghetsis.

"I never saw someone with eyes like that!" she said. "Looks just like my Haxorus!" the girl smiled, amused with her new discovery, the sound of her laughter got Ghetsis attention. His face showed a confused expression, as he stared at the girl. Hilda wondered if he even remembered Iris. She tried to release her hand from his one more time but it was useless against his strength.

"I'm thirsty." He said looking back at Hilda. For a moment the girl was relieved that Ghetsis wasn't fully recovered, the fact she took off his eye patch, under normal conditions, would make the man spit fire, quite literally. At least she could explain why they took it off (or so she hoped), now if she asked him to explain why he was holding her hand as if his life depended on it, that would be quite an amusing sight.

Seeing that her friend was still attached to Ghetsis, Iris promptly managed to pick a glass over the small table and filled it with water. She hesitated for a moment before offering it.

"Here it is…uh…" she searched for a way to address the man. "Mr Ghetsis." That sounded weird and somehow wrong. Even the man himself seemed to be unused to that. Hilda celebrated internally when Ghetsis unglued his hand from hers, yet she had to help him to get into a sitting position to be able to drink properly.

He seemed to be slowly coming back from his dazed condition. As he slowly emptied the glass, he took a better look around and maybe something on their guilty faces made him realize that something was wrong.

"What-" his voice got an angry tone as he reached at his own face stating something was missing. A spasm of pain made him flinch when he moved. "What have you done to me?!" he demanded, covering his scarred eye with his left hand.

"We helped you, remember?"Hilda quickly tried to control his temper, surprised with his outburst. "You wouldn't be sitting here if I hadn't rescued you from that icy cave." For someone who almost coughed his lungs a day ago, Ghetsis must have a powerful set of vocal chords to be able to talk like that already.

Iris and Hilda didn't even have time to stop him as he tried to get up. His condition made its presence known as his right arm refused to support him properly and the pain of his broken ribs came back at full force. Ghetsis let out a painful howl as he retreated to his previous resting place panting and cursing.

"Easy there." Iris told him while keeping a safe distance. "Moving like that will just make things worse!"

"And you should be glad that Dr Kaji patched you up." Hilda added while she held Ghetsis still.

Panting, the man glared daggers at Hilda.

"I didn't ask for your help." He replied, shoving her hands away from him quite rudely.

"Here we go again..." The girl sighed as he insisted on saying that."Look, I'm not asking for you to thank me." That got his attention for a moment. Ghetsis looked at Hilda with a strange combination of pain and curiosity in his eyes. Iris retreated to a safe place, hiding behind her friend; it was also the place closest to the door.

"You amuse me with those words." He finally said, again covering his scar with his hand. She wondered why he seemed so upset with it.

"Talking about amusing things, deep down you should be glad I dragged you out of that cave, maybe some 50 years later people would find you lying there frozen solid, they would put you in a museum and due to a lack of a better historical background people would name you "The asshole of the century". Would you like that better?"

It took full five seconds for her speech sink in. Iris was the first one to fall for it. The girl got in a hysterical fit of laughter, even Hilda laughed with the mental image she just described.

On the other side Ghetsis was not pleased, he certainly wasn't used to people making fun of him. Hilda soon noticed that as the glass they gave him a few moments ago flew across the room, missing her for a few inches, and smashed itself against the wall showering both the girls with small glinting pieces of glass.

"Stop!" Ordered the man, the effort he made was painful but it didn't lessen his anger.

"That was uncalled for!" Hilda retorted as she quickly made Iris leave the room before things got worse. "It was a joke Ghetsis! It was harmless compared to some things you called me a few years ago." And she didn't even mention what he said to N.

"You-" Whatever reply he had in mind it was suddenly drowned by a powerful coughing fit that made him hunch over. When he finally stopped, Ghetsis was breathless and his face reflected how painful that was. It didn't stop him from glaring silently at her though.

"_Why this man has to be so damn difficult!?_" the girl exclaimed in her mind as she looked around at the mess of broken glass. Noticing that he was not too inclined to move so soon, she started to pick up the bigger shards at her feet. She would need to clean that later but for now she gathered them in a corner before someone got hurt.

They remained silent for a long time; the girl was busy cleaning up the mess while her companion, tired of firing death glares at her back, howled and hissed as he slowly moved on his bed, turning his back at her. When Hilda finished her chore, she looked at the man who was now engaged in a staring contest with the heavy windows of the room. With a deep sigh she sat on her chair beside him again.

The whole thing was madness. She admitted the natural talent to get in trouble, it was a fact well known, and her impulsive behavior too. Yet this time she did all that consciously. If Cheren even dreamed that she had rescued the man he despised the most, it would probably take three generations until he could talk to her again. She rubbed her tired eyes with the back of her hand. N had a childish behavior due to the way he was raised, but she didn't expect that Ghetsis could be a worse case than the boy.

"I'm sorry." She said after a moment of silence. As he was facing the other side, she didn't see any kind of reaction. "I know that… you've been through a hard time since we faced each other, things happened a bit too fast these days and I don't even know what to do next..." He moved slightly, she heard him sigh.

"Feeling guilty now, are we?" came his voice, it didn't sound exactly like a question more like a statement. She resisted the urge to ask him if he never felt guilty for everything he did. Yet it would only make the man angrier and that was exactly the last thing she needed now.

"Are you still covering that scar?" she changed the subject as she noticed that he insisted on that silly behavior even when no one was looking. _"Is he just shy or he doesn't like to show his scarred face?"_

He didn't answer her question, but she wouldn't give up yet. Hilda dragged her chair until she was facing the man. Ghetsis seemed to have controlled his anger, but he still looked deeply annoyed with her presence.

"Is the light bothering you or you just don't want me to look at your face?" she asked again, sitting right before him. The man looked as if considering the option of turning up to the other side, but the pain of the process seemed to be quite fresh in his mind to try that again.

"Why do you care?" his visible crimson eye almost glinted with impatience. Hilda showed him the metal eye patch he wore in her hands, waving it around.

"Tell me the truth and I give this back to you." She grinned back to him with a mischievous look. If Ghetsis wouldn't participate in a normal conversation, then she had to try her own ways.

Now that made him think.

"Clever girl." He muttered as he revealed his scarred eye again. It looked just like any scar to her, his blind eye was a bit unsettling but nothing hideous enough to hide it. "It was an accident with my Hydreigon." His words carried some sadness; Hilda could see that Ghetsis missed his pokemon. "I was careless and unprepared. I'm not proud of it." He added, gazing at the girl again, waiting for her reply.

"I see." She nodded, while taking a quick glance at the metal piece in her hands. "For a moment I thought it had something to do with that "I'm perfection" speech of yours." she added without realizing she said that bit out loud.

That hit a nerve, and a mighty raw one too, she knew by the way Ghetsis twitched his eyebrow. Thinking fast, she promptly tossed his eye patch where he could reach and braced herself for the oncoming rage again.

For an unknown reason, the man remained silent. Hilda was surprised he didn't snap like before. Actually, he looked quite shaken.

"I see you own an excellent memory." Ghetsis said as he tried to relocate his bandaged arm in a more comfortable position, the memory of that incident seemed to stir something within the man.

"And I have to learn to keep some thoughts to myself." Hilda replied in an embarrassed tone while scratching her head. She felt rather lucky at the moment, after all Ghetsis didn't go berserk again. Still, she could feel he was hiding something from her.

"Are you in pain? If that's the case I can talk with dr Kaji-"

"I can live with the pain." He cut her phrase sharply. "Just leave me alone for now."

Hilda sighed with both her hands at her waist.

"In my humble opinion, you spent too much time alone for your own sake." She said, walking around him. "However, I won't force you to talk if you don't want to."

Ghetsis watched her as the girl settled his right arm in a less wonky angle and straightened the thick blankets that covered him once again, without saying a word. With a final approving glance she headed for the door.

"What have I done to you?" she heard the question linger in the air. There was something different in his tone this time.

"Sorry, I don't get it." Hilda answered looking back at him with furrowed eyebrows and slightly confused.

"You should hate me." He stated bluntly.

"Well, I could hate you, and maybe I should. It would be easier too." She pondered while walking around the room and stopped right in front of the window. It was snowing outside. "But you know, when things are too easy they usually turn out to be wrong. Besides, it wouldn't change anything that happened before, would it?" She rested her head against the glass and continued more to herself than anything else. "I just thought it maybe was a good thing to think differently…"

After a few seconds, the silence was broken by the sound of laughter. Hilda turned around and almost didn't believe her eyes and ears. Ghetsis Harmonia was simply laughing, as much as his wounds allowed.

"Hey, what's so funny?" It was a strange sight to see him laughing, though it puzzled her what triggered that reaction.

"I see… so that's what they call mercy." Ghetsis stared into her eyes with an unreadable expression. "Never thought I could be counted as worthy of such concept."

"Actually, that's the ancient secret art of something I call "taking care of each other"." She replied while approaching him again to sit in her chair. "And last time I checked, it didn't need any requirements to care for someone."

Hilda wondered if she said something wrong, as he quickly averted his eyes from her, resuming the fierce staring contest with the window. _"Poor thing, it will probably burst in flames by the end of the day."_

"I presume... this is the part where I'm supposed to… thank you." He seemed to struggle with the words, which was strange coming from someone who always seemed so controlled and skillful with speeches.

For a moment, she was glad that her chair was holding her in place. It was the last thing she expected to hear from Ghetsis. He was not happy with his actual situation, she could see that, but that small progress made her feel really happy.

"You're welcome." Hilda replied with a smile. "Rest for a while. We will be here if you need something and please, try not to tear the whole place down again."

He looked at the girl as he put his eye patch back into place, the faintest sign of what looked a smile twisted his lips for less than second, but he nodded in agreement. It was good enough for her.

Maybe he was a stubborn man with his annoying quirks who done his fair share of wrong things in the past, but she was willing to give him a chance.

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading this crazy little story, even with grammatical mistakes along the way. I really hope you liked. =)**

**I have a few ideas and may continue this story in a sequel if you liked this one. Feel free leave a review, suggestions or just your favorite bit. **

**Thanks for reading until the end. =D**

**See you! ^^**


	4. Memories

**A/N: I'm back. ^^**

**Thank you very much for the reviews, Sailor Taichichi Vegeta ****and ****Kaytlyn Hue****, it made me really happy that you enjoyed reading this story. So, this is the sequel. ;) **

**Curiously enough, while writing this I was listening to Night of the Hunter (by 30 Seconds to Mars) and it somehow fit quite well with Ghetsis. XD**

**This time it will be a bit different, we can see a short glimpse of what happened to Ghetsis before Hilda rescued him. **

**Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Game Freak**

**Chapter 3 – Memories**

Useless.

That single word was the only thing left in his mind that day and for a moment amid his feverish state he actually feared it was going to be the last one too.

He waited. How long exactly he couldn't say, those were long and restless days as he just stared at his own reflection on the ice of the cave. A crack on the wall revealed the spot where he lashed out his anger once, something in his left hand also made a sickening cracking sound after that episode but he did not care.

Everything seemed to anger him.

Sometimes he caught himself cursing his own fate as the memories haunted him ever since, the foolish boy he had raised and the young trainer that defied him in that decisive battle at the top of his castle. But, above all that, what he despised the most was himself.

What he expected to do at that place was also a mystery to him. He tried to gather his former team back again, still few believed him. Tales of a third dragon, the empty shell left behind when Zekrom and Reshiram were split, gave him hope that maybe he could rise again.

Once he found an old acquaintance that shared a thirst for knowledge even greater than his own and for a year or so, they worked together in a common goal: find, capture and control Kyurem. Everything seemed to be according to his plans, until that fateful day when the scientist simply announced he found a much proper subject for his research.

They had quite an argument but the man was irreducible. And so, Ghetsis found himself back to where he started. He was on his own again.

The memory of how he ended up there at the entrance of the ominous cave at the Giant Chasm was a blurry sequence of events that he could not quite remember properly. Though he knew something was wrong with him, for quite some time he could feel an insistent pain in his chest. He wondered more than once if he was really losing his sanity as he waited in silence. Later found himself laughing at his own situation.

He did not care anymore.

Then, on one particularly cold night a fearsome snowstorm raged outside the cave. The loud sound of the wind and the freezing temperature woke him from a rather restless sleep. A chill run down his spine. As he opened his eyes, he saw that he was not alone anymore.

The monstrous dragon stared back at him in the dark. Its yellowy eyes were blank and ominous. Ghetsis at first thought he might be hallucinating at some point; he slowly got up and faced Kyurem. The thunderous roar of the pokemon proved that he was quite real.

So, he was not wrong after all. Kyurem was real.

"At last we meet." He greeted the dragon with a slightly smirk on his face. "Kyurem."

As if in response, the dragon closed the distance between them, each heavy step made Ghetsis heart beat faster. He wished his Hydreigon were still there with him. Danger was something he was used to, thought this was the first time in his life he was completely alone. Almost defenseless. He hated to admit it, that perspective scared him.

"You hide your presence from everything, in the dark, waiting for someone foolish enough to venture in here and yet brave enough to fill your missing half. A hollow shell of something far too powerful and that now is lost to the ages and legends." Ghetsis added while extending his right hand until it touched Kyurem's jaw. Despite the state of his damaged arm, he could still feel the ice cold skin beneath his hand. He laughed a bit. "How ironic. Now I can relate to that feeling."

They stayed like that for a few seconds, the pokemon stood so still it barely seemed to breathe.

"_What would you do to the man who dared to control both Truth and Ideals and failed miserably at it?" _he thought while closing his eyes. _"Punish him for his mistakes or give his hope back?"_

As if reacting to his thoughts, the pokemon moved suddenly. It happened all too fast. The dragon reared its head and roared with force enough to shatter the ice closest to them. Ghetsis stepped back but as soon as he moved, he saw the oncoming attack. Opening its jaws, Kyurem charged his Glaciate.

Stumbling backwards, Ghetsis fell on the ground, evading the full impact of the attack. Yet, he felt a strange pain creeping up his right arm. Blinking to regain his focus, he took a quick glance at it and gasped at the sight. Apparently his arm was caught in the blast as it now was covered with a thin layer of ice, his already scarred skin underneath it looked strangely bluish now.

He didn't have enough time to measure the damage or even think properly as the pokemon quickly stomped its way until it reached him. Its eyes glowing even more in the dark now.

In a desperate attempt to defend himself, Ghetsis tried to hold the gaping jaws of the dragon away from him with his good arm. He was strong but it was almost useless against the sheer force of a legendary dragon.

The monster dragged him around, as the man kicked and twisted to free himself from its grasp.

Tired of tossing him around, Kyurem let out an impatient cry and launched what looked his Outrage attack. Ghetsis barely got up when he was hit squarely on the chest with the scorching blast. Both his feet left the ground as the wave launched him away. He felt the air leaving his lungs as he crashed on the closest wall of the cave, the impact alone almost knocked him unconscious. The rocky surface tore through his clothes and dug into his skin as he slid to the ground.

It took him a few seconds to realize he was still breathing, though every fiber of his body seemed to ache. Ghetsis coughed and immediately felt a terrible pain shot through his ribs and there was blood in his mouth. The loud ringing sound in his ears disoriented him a bit but he tried to open his eyes again. At least the impact broke the ice that almost froze his arm, yet he suspected it wasn't the only thing broken as he tried to move.

Fighting to stay conscious, he almost didn't notice the dragon approaching. It towered over him ever so silent and yet the pokemon emanated a fury that seemed to chill the air around them even more. Ghetsis was shaking, with fear, cold or pain, he could not tell.

So that was going to be his fate? Lying there broken and forgotten where no one would even dare to look for him, haunted by past mistakes until the very end?

"Useless." He said out loud as he coughed. Something warm slid across his cheek. And again. Was he… crying?

Those few seconds seemed to last an eternity as the dragon just stood there, staring intently at him. But the final strike never came. Even in that dire situation, it intrigued him that Kyurem hesitated to move now.

Then, it retreated, slowly at first but with determined steps. The last thing he saw was that pair of glowing eyes disappearing in the dark with a final roar.

Trying to steady his breathing and frenzied heart, Ghetsis ventured to look at the damage. His back was burning and so did his chest. Moving around caused an agony that he never felt in his life. Worse yet, he couldn't feel his right arm anymore.

Panic and fear started to sink in. He was alive, though it still eluded him why the legendary dragon left. However, it became quite clear to him that he was not going anywhere on his own. A few more tears insisted on trailing down his face. He let them fall.

* * *

The sound of a voice startled him awake. For a moment he thought it was his mind playing tricks on him. Just the effort to open his eyes seemed to hurt. Something moved around, he could see a faint light not very far from him.

It was only when she walked closer to him that he was able to recognize the girl. That face was one that haunted him for quite some time, always remembering of his failures. How did she manage to find him there?

At first, his anger got the best of him. He remembered trying to scare her away though something in his mind wanted to kick himself for being so foolish.

"_Stop that nonsense, you're hurting her!" _The thought crossed his mind when he suddenly realized what exactly he was doing to her arm. For a moment, he was glad that she paid no mind to his threats. He desperately needed help though his pride kept him from admitting it. "_What was her name?" _he thought again while trying to sort out his memories as he felt more lethargic as time passed.

Ashamed for his erratic behavior, Ghetsis found the strength to swallow his stupid pride. For 3 years he searched for a meaning to his sorry life and now it seemed that he was given a chance to live. With the few forces that remained in him, he stared into her worried blue eyes. There was no doubt in those eyes. His vision started to fade as his body finally gave in. He made many mistakes in his life, more than he could count, but this time he was going to trust her and hope. Hope that for once he did the right thing.

**A/N: Poor Ghetsis. **

**Next chapter we will see how Hilda manages to tame a rather cranky Sage and a new friend arrives to the party. XD**

**See you there. =D**


	5. Starting over

**A/N: Hello. **

**I'm a bit busy with some papers from college and sadly it will take quite some time before writing the next chapter. T-T Luckily, I managed to finish this one. =D **

**Oh, and last time I forgot to answer to Sailor Taichichi Vegeta question about Iris's band aids: I bet they were Sesame Street. XD **

**I hope you enjoy the reading. ^^**

**Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Game Freak**

**Chapter 4 – Starting over**

"Stop that!" the man argued with an angry tone as he squirmed as much as his wounded body permitted and the armchair where he was sitting allowed him to move.

"I'm doing the best I can, it's not my fault your hair is a wild tangled mess!" Hilda tried to defend herself from his anger. "If you don't like it that we can shave your hair, is that what you want?"

That made the man stop wiggling around like an angry Caterpie under the scorching sun, and the girl sighed with relief. She stared at the sheer impossibility of the scene before her eyes.

There she was at Drayden's house, the mayor of Opelucid city and the powerful dragon master of Unova, with Iris, the last former Champion, at her side holding a pair of scissors and before them there was a mighty grumpy sage also known as Ghetsis Harmonia, looking pretty much like a mummy covered in bandages up to his neck and who needed some serious help with his hair.

"_Can't get crazier than that, can it?"_

"Then at least try not to tear my skin apart with that awful thing!" Ghetsis snarled back at her, a single red eye stared into her own. But then, as much as Hilda tried to remain serious her face still managed to move against her will, a stifled laughter escaped her lips. "What's it now?" he demanded almost immediately.

"I didn't mean to laugh, sorry. Well, it's just that this is a bit… unusual " The girl explained, she knew it was no use arguing with him so she just told him the truth. "Besides, what's up with you, your family and pretty hair? It's all knotted now but still looks beautiful. If I dared to let my hair grow as long as yours it would look more like an angry bush!

At first she thought he was going to start complaining all over again, however Ghetsis simply huffed to himself and sit still once again. Hilda saw by the corner of her eyes that Iris covered her mouth to hide her smile at their side. She was standing over his blind spot so Ghetsis probably couldn't see her anyway. However, she was almost sure the man heard the girl, something in the way he twitched gave her that feeling.

Earlier that morning

The morning sky was still clouded and slightly dark when the girl got up from her improvised bed. At first Hilda opted to stay on the couch for that night until she got time enough to find a place to stay in Opelucid, but Iris managed to materialize a spare mattress from God knows where in her own room. She didn't have much of a choice than to accept the offer.

Hilda was the first one to get ready for the day while Iris still dragged her feet walking around in a half-asleep march looking for her shoes. She sat back on her so called burrow of blankets, searching for her Xtransceiver in her bag while she waited for her friend to fully awake. Soon she was greeted by the image of her mother on their living room.

"Oh, good morning Hilda! I was about to call you." Her mother smiled with a relieved expression. She could see her Lucario helping around with the daily chores in the background. As soon as he heard his trainer's name, the pokemon rushed in to greet her. "How are you doing up there, is everything ok?"

"Hi mom, hi Lance! Well, Drayden got a new stylish eyebrow makeover yesterday and we've just got up but I think everybody is fine, right Iris?" she looked over her shoulder while the younger girl proceeded to say a rather muffled good morning as she passed by rubbing her sleepy eyes.

"That's good to know. Lance here was so worried that he even forgot his meditation training this morning." They both giggled as her Lucario let out an ashamed growl while he dropped his ears.

"It's ok Lance." Hilda assured him. She already missed his almost hyperactive attitude but before leaving she decided to leave at least one of her pokemon to keep company to her mother. "Thanks for taking care of everyone for me. When I get back we will train together a whole day, what do you say?" she suggested while raising her fist in the air.

Lance got up and returned the gesture with a proud cry almost knocking over the small apparatus. Jumping over the couch with acrobatic move, he resumed his chores with renewed motivation.

"There he goes again. Just be careful with those dishes! " Helena told him as she glanced at the pokemon with a kind expression. "And how is your friend doing? Is he going to stay there with you?"

Her mother did know who Ghetsis was, Hilda made sure to tell her the whole story when she finally returned home after becoming the champion. On the other side, she knew how that worried Helena, and rightly so, but her mother reminded her that she was already a grown up woman and free to make her own decisions.

_"I'm not going to stop you, if you think that's the right thing to do, then go out there and do your best. Just be careful, my dear."_ She remembered her words as she hastily prepared her backpack before leaving. "_Oh, and let him know that if he ever do something to upset you I'm gonna find him and kick his ass."_ She concluded with a mischievous grin.

"As far as we saw, his legs are the only thing intact. Ghetsis was limping a bit but he made a quite safe walk to the bathroom in his room." She reported. "Things got a bit jumpy in the night but I think he should be better by now, Dr Kaji left his Audino here to watch him until his morning check-up." Hilda stated while looking a bit worried.

"Any idea of what happened to him yet? You said that he was hurt really badly."

"No idea. And he won't talk either. Actually, that's the first time I've seen Ghetsis so quiet, it's a bit scary." The girl remembered how the man loved his never-ending speeches in the past every time Team Plasma popped up in some random city. She couldn't shake off that feeling that something changed in him.

"I see… Well, give him some time to adjust to his new environment. I always heard my parents saying that people who close themselves with thick walls usually are afraid of getting hurt again. If that's the case, maybe he just needs someone to show how-" before she could finish her, a loud crash was heard in the background. "Oh my, It looks like Lance got a bit rough with the dishes again." Helena told her as she got up. "Good luck to all of you today! I'll call you later. Oh, and say hi to Drayden for me."

"_Your timing's still perfect, Lance. Sometimes I really think I should have named him The Destroyer instead. "_ Hilda thought as she put the Xtransceiver back into her bag. Jokes aside her mother's incomplete advice still drifted in her mind as both girls finally left to have their breakfast. _"I wish she had time to say what I should do… Could it be that Ghetsis behaves like that because he is afraid to get hurt by people around him?" _That was hard to imagine, but it kinda made sense. N was just like that when she first met him.

Their steps echoed along the empty marble colored corridor as she wondered if Ghetsis was alright. His fever got back with a vengeance last night and the man did his best to endure the sickness as they all waited for the medicine to do its job. Kaji observed that the man seemed to possess an uncommon resistance to remedies and even to anesthetics.

"Iris, you can go first and tell Drayden I'll join you in a minute. I'll just take a look if everything's under control and to make sure that Ghetsis didn't break anything else while we were not looking." Hilda said to Iris as she turned on her heels, taking the corridor that led to the last room in the back of the building. "By the end of this mess I will probably end up bankrupt because of all the repairs."

She tried to open the door as silently as she could and took a look inside. The room was quiet and the Audino that belonged to Dr Kaji was resting on the armchair next to the bed. The pokemon greeted her with a cheerful sound as she entered. Ghetsis was still sleeping.

His face was peaceful so she assumed his fever was gone for good this time. Walking closer to his side, she noticed that his right arm had slid out of the bed and now was dangling in the air.

The girl gently held his hand, the only part of his arm free of bandages. It was much bigger than hers; the skin felt warm but a bit rough at the touch and had strange darker tone, as if it was burned. The man didn't even stir from his sleep.

No wonder that Ghetsis always kept his arm hidden in his clothes, judging by how upset he was about showing his injured eye.

The sound of the door creaking open again made her turn around to see the new visitor.

"Oh, hello little miss." The old doctor greeted her with his usual calm tone. "Drayden told me you should be here and asked me to bring this too." He carried a small decorated basket along with his suitcase. "Are you taking good care of our new troublemaker?"

She blushed a bit.

"Well, I'm trying to do what I can to help." She replied while scratching her head a bit unsure of what to say.

"Good job, Audino. Time for a well deserved rest." He thanked the pokemon before retrieving it into its pokeball. "And I just hope this lad thanked you enough for all this, he wouldn't be here if it wasn't for your help you know." Said Kaji as he patted her shoulder. "Now let's take a look on him."

"Do you think I should leave now?" he looked down at her raising both eyebrows with surprise. "I mean, leave before he wakes up?" the girl completed her phrase.

"On the contraire, miss Hilda. I was going to ask if you could stay. Believe me it will make this much easier."

The girl didn't understand why he said that but she did not argue. She sat on the empty chair beside him and waited for his instructions.

She watched as the medic worked, retrieving a few things from his suitcase and placing them over the table in the corner. It was only when he touched Ghetsis forehead that the man seemed to wake up. That was the beginning of something that later she would remember as the most awkward examination ever.

"What time is it?" he asked groggily as he blinked due to the bright lighst. He soon noticed that the girl was also beside him and promptly frowned. After those few days, Hilda noticed that it was his patented way of saying "hello".

"It's a fine cloudy Saturday morning, precisely 6:25 AM." The doctor replied without even looking at his wristwatch while still examining him. Kaji then unceremoniously took his eye patch away.

"What are you doing?!" exclaimed the exalted sage prying the doctor's hands away from him.

"You sir got quite the fever last night, I'm just making sure everything is working as it should." Unfazed by the death glares sent at him, he scratched his chin thoughtfully as he adjusted his glasses. "Hm… nothing wrong here too. Can you see anything with that eye?" he inquired.

"…" Ghetsis stared at him, as if considering him worthy of a reply. Hilda noticed that he glanced at her for a split second before answering. "Not much. Only blurry and discolored shadows." The man replied almost unwillingly.

"I see. So I presume you use this little piece not just for aesthetics. It avoids motion sickness and helps you to see more clearly, am I right?" Ghetsis nodded slowly. "Well, that's a good start. Now, open your mouth."

"What?!" Ghetsis asked looking even more suspiciously. The old doctor sighed deeply while placing both his hands at his waist. He looked like he was dealing with an extremely uncooperative child.

"You probably won't remember, but when you first arrived, I think you were missing a tooth. Or could be just that cut on your lip that was bleeding, I didn't have much of a chance to confirm it as you were a bit… hostile at the moment." The man remained still. "Besides, yesterday this lovely young girl here spent half the night awake just to make sure you would see one more morning and I'm just trying to help you to get better, we're not asking that much. Now, please, open your mouth.

Surprisingly, Ghetsis did as he was told. Hilda now knew why Drayden admired the old man. The dragon master once said that Kaji might be a bit rough around the edges at first sight, but he was one of the best doctors in town and knew how to deal with his patients, no matter how difficult they were.

"Luckily for you, everything is still in there." The old medic smiled with a relieved expression as he was finished with his inspection. He crossed his arms and took a step back. "Just a little question, are you sure you're not a vampire?"

Hilda had to fight the urge to laugh. Ghetsis just stared at him in disbelief, unsure about the absurdity of the subject.

"…As far as I know, no."

"I'm just joking, my boy!" Kaji patted Ghetsis's left shoulder. "Don't be so serious all the time, you have a nice smile hidden under that scowl, you should use it more often." Then he added. "But you do have some pretty sharp fangs in there."

As it was his habit when embarrassed or confronted, he looked away from both of them. Hilda swore that she caught a glimpse of a sudden flush of color on his face.

"_So the almighty Ghetsis Harmonia __**can**__ blush when someone compliments him." _She made a mental note to remember that later.

"Ok, now I would like to take a look on those stitches." Kaji clapped his hands. "Can you sit over the edge of the bed so we can take those bandages off?"

"_Wait a minute, did he say "we"?"_ the girl thought with a pang of apprehension.

Apparently, Ghetsis was eager to put an end on all that fussing over him. Grinding his teeth the man hissed as he slowly got up in a sitting position and put his legs over the side of the bed. He wore black pants but his feet were bare as they touched the cold floor, he tried to unbutton the shirt that once belonged to Drayden, since that all that remained of his clothes now were a bunch of bloodstained rags.

"Miss Hilda, come over here please." The old medic motioned for her to approach them. "Could you hold his hair up while I untie these wrappings?"

"O-ok." She stuttered a bit. She took a nervous glance at Ghetsis, he looked uncomfortable. "You don't mind if I sit beside you, do you?" she asked him, it was the only way for her to give enough space for the medic to unroll the layers of bandages and still keep his hair out of the way.

"I'm not going to bite you, if that's what you're so afraid." He replied drily. And with that settled, they started to work. As each layer was removed, the girl saw for the first time the wounds on his back.

It didn't really surprise her that Ghetsis had a rather muscular build, though a bit different from Drayden, but now he had the addition of tortuous vertical lines of stitches running from his shoulders until far down his back. The skin around them was red and raw, there were points where the threads seemed to give in and a bit of blood seeped through.

"We have rebel over here." Kaji counted the loose stitches. "And another two far down. It's nothing to worry, I can close them again but I'm afraid it will hurt a bit."

"_How does he even stand lying there on that bed for so long with his back like that?"_ Once she fell from her bicycle while running down a rocky road. It rendered a deep cut on her shin and a painful trip to the closest pokemon center where they promptly sewed it up. It was relatively small but that thing burned every time something reached a good 2 inches radius of her leg.

When she finally returned to her chair, now that Ghetsis was able to hold his hair over his shoulder as the medic tried to close the missing gaps, she noticed that it wasn't only his hand that looked damaged; his whole right arm was scarred. Dark tendril-like marks extended almost until the base of his neck. Large purplish bruises covered part of his chest and ribs revealing where they were broken.

The girl twisted her hands in her lap when she realized that the man noticed she had been staring at his wounds. She tried to think on something to say to keep him distracted from the pain while Kaji mended the ruined stitches. It was the least she could do to lessen the awkwardness of the moment.

"You know, I broke my arm once when I was a kid while playing with my friends." She ventured. "We were climbing trees around Nuvema. Bianca was the first one to give up but Cheren said I couldn't beat his record and I told them I could climb all the way up the tree." The sage didn't say a thing, but he seemed to be listening to her tale. "Well, I really did, but I have no idea of how I ended on the ground after that." She laughed a bit remembering the incident. "I cried the whole day because of how much it hurt. But when my parents brought me back home, Cheren and Bianca were waiting for me and I saw how worried they were. I guess that was when I realized that when they were there with me, it didn't hurt that bad anymore…"

"You have good friends then." She heard the old man remark as he took off his gloves. "Reminds me of Drayden when he was younger, the little rascal." Kaji went on with a smile as he cleaned the material on the top of the small table beside the bed. "While other kids run around with a scrapped knee he managed to get himself into all kinds of trouble with his dragons! No wonder I became a medic, I was always mending him back into one piece at the end of the day. He never listened, but I keep saying to him, one day one those dragons will bite you right on the-"

"Are we done yet?" Ghetsis asked looking bored but he somehow appeared slightly more relaxed and his posture was a bit less tense than before.

"Almost there lad, almost. I just need to check up your lungs." the old man shuffled around looking for his stethoscope.

The last examination went on peacefully. Kaji stated that Ghetsis's lungs roared like an old Beartic but they would recover in time if he took his remedies daily and avoided unnecessary exposure to the cold weather.

Then, they resumed the task of putting a new set of clean bandages back on.

"You know, I think we should cut your hair a little bit. It's all matted." The old doctor suggested while making sure everything was back in its place.

"I guess we are done!" Hilda celebrated when Ghetsis finished buttoning up his shirt and retreated to his previous resting place without saying a word ever since his last question.

"Yes, thanks to you miss Hilda." Said the old man as he sighed looking a bit exhausted. "And I should also thank you my boy, for being so sympathetic. I think this is your reward. " Kaji handed that small basket from before to Ghetsis, who took it into his good hand like it could explode at any moment. "Don't be afraid, it's just your breakfast."

As if reacting to the word, the girl's empty stomach protested loudly for being neglected for so long. Both men stared at her at the same time and she felt her face burning in embarrassment.

"My goodness, forgive me for keeping you here for so long. You can go now miss Hilda."

And back to the current task

As much as Iris wanted to stay to help her, she was replacing Drayden at the gym that day and the girl would probably spent the whole day there before she could go back home. She waved her friend a hearty goodbye while a really annoyed Ghetsis glared at her. It did seem to surprise him when the girl simply smiled back at him before darting through the door.

Hilda was a bit nervous at the perspective of being alone with her new companion. Actually, the girl wasn't completely alone, she had her pokemon and Drayden was there but he was busy attending some kind of meeting as the mayor. He said it was something about the annual Christmas celebration.

Luckily everything seemed under control for now, or at least she hoped as the man stopped struggling. So she resumed her previous task as gently as she could. She knew that Ghetsis was still sore even if he did not show his pain. Amid the silence, the girl could hear his noisy breathing and he had occasional coughing fits but luckily he was not coughing up blood anymore.

"How long do I have to wait before this torment ends?" Ghetsis annoyed voice startled Hilda, which made her pull the strands of his hair in surprise. The man flinched slightly at the pain.

"Oh, sorry!" she quickly apologized as he shot an angry glance over his shoulder with his good eye. The girl tried to think something to say to that could soften his already awful temper, yet internally her mind debated the possibilities.

"_Ok brain, I know thinking good plans it's not our main quality now but I really could use some help here!_" she thought hopefully waiting for any kind of answer, but her mind was emptier than the Desert Resort. "_Well, _t_hanks brain…_" the girl mentally scolded. Then, as if annoyed with her disapproving remark, an idea suddenly hit her.

Hilda picked one of the pokeballs on her belt. She hoped that maybe her plan would work, or it could backfire into something even worse, but it was worth a try. When she activated the pokeball, her Samurott appeared before them, stretching his legs with a long yawn.

She saw Ghetsis move a bit, clearly surprised.

"This is Sammy." she explained while ruffling the pokemon fur as he approached them with a curious look in his eyes. "You might remember him. I thought you might like to have him around while I try to… untangle things here." Hilda tried to sound bit more optimistic as she desperately hoped she would manage to solve the task at hand.

"And would you be so kind to enlighten me what I'm supposed to do?" he coughed a bit, yet his tone was as suspicious as ever.

"Well…" she hesitated. "You can play with him to pass the time, he's a real sweetie. Right Sammy?" The pokemon replied with a playful growl.

The young girl watched silently as the man remained still like a statue and seemed to ignore her suggestion. Her Samurott looked to her and Ghetsis with a clearly confused expression, almost asking what do to next. She quietly motioned with her head to him to approach the cranky sage.

And so he did.

The pokemon walked up to the man tilting its head to the side. Sammy made a questioning sound before slowly nudging Ghetsis's left arm with his muzzle. Hilda continued to brush his hair, pretending that she was not paying attention on them.

Nothing happened. Fortunately, her Samurott was not fond of giving up either. He did it again this time a bit more insistently.

When she was starting to think that her plan didn't work and was actually annoying him even more, a slight movement caught her eye. Almost unwillingly, the man reached up to the pokemon. He hesitated for a moment with his hand in the air as if wondering if she was looking at him. It wavered in doubt for a moment.

Hilda had to muster her inner strength to keep quiet, afraid to scare the man.

She couldn't see his face, but for she wondered what went through his head as Ghetsis gently caressed the fur under her Samurott's chin, which made the pokemon purr like a kitten.

* * *

Outside, a strange figure almost crawled his way out of the tunnel leading to the front gates of Opelucid. The man looked tired and his clothes were speckled with dark stains. He adjusted his glasses and then a blue scarf around his neck before taking a good look around.

"So, this is Opelucid." He said while straightening his back. "I almost can't believe I'm finally free of those savages splattering mud all around with those noisy motorcycles!" He looked almost thrilled with the view before his eyes. Then, as if realizing something was missing, he looked back over his shoulder. "Rotom? Where are you!?"

**A/N: I guess Hilda is starting to learn how to deal with him. :3 **

**Can anyone guess who the new arrival is? ;)**

**Next chapter will have a whole new level of trouble and Hilda will have to choose what to do once the sage recovers. **

**Thanks for reading and see you there. ;D**


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